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A decision by London area school boards to pull $30,000 in funding from a musical staged by high school students has provoked a swift and successful online fundraising campaign to fill the gap.

The London District Catholic school board and the Thames Valley District school board typically donate $15,000 to the annual musical stage by high school students at the Grand Theatre.

But the boards balked at the play chosen for this year's production – Prom Queen – based on the true story of Marc Hall, a gay Oshawa student who fought to bring his boyfriend to a prom date in 2002 and faced opposition from the Durham Catholic School Board.

A joint statement by the boards, sent to The Free Press Thursday morning, defends their decision and appears to object to the portrayal of school boards in the play.

“Together, our school communities – principals, teachers, trustees, staff, students, parents – work very hard to ensure all students are supported and cared for, which is not reflected in the script,” it reads.

But the board decision prompted the swift start of an online fundraising campaign to replace the money pulled by the school boards.

By early Thursday, almost $20,000 of the required $30,000 was raised on the CanadaHelps.org site with contributions kicked off by the Grand Theatre, London's LGBTQ community and rTraction, a London digital company.

Many of the 175 contributors included comments. One wrote: “Delighted to see Londoners take initiative on this! Absolutely shameful decision by London school boards.”

Another contributor wrote: “Shame on the school boards for their homophobia and cowardice! LGBT stories deserve to be told.”